Heart of a Warrior

8

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"IS ALL THAT SILENCE BROODING, DALDEN, OR BECAUSE you've been paying attention?" Martha asked.

They were alone In the control room. Shanelle had been informed that Falon was showing signs of impatience in wanting to search for Jorran himself. Sending fifty seven-foot Sha-Ka'ani warriors to the surface for a mass search for Jorran would have hastened the search, but was out of the question. There might be humans of an equivalent size on the planet, but they were a rarity, not the norm.

Sending down even two warriors would be pushing it for drawing unwanted notice, which was why Martha was insisting the search begin with just Dalden. Shanelle, being in agreement, had rushed off to remind her lifemate of that.

"I understand what worries you, Martha," Dalden replied. I would not let the woman know that I am what she would call a barbarian."

Chuckling floated about the room. "She wouldn't think that. No, her word for you would be an alien. It would have no meaning to her that other worlds consider your world a bit barbaric in nature. She'd recognize only one thing, that you aren't from her world, and that would shock the hell out of her, taking precedence over anything she might have been feeling about you. I'd then have to bring her aboard the ship, erase her memories of you, and hope that it works on these humanoids. And you know I don't deal well with 'hope it works.' So why don't we just avoid all that-"

"I need someone who will immediately recognize another visitor like me," he interrupted. "I will not be able to know the difference, since they all sound strange to me. Jorran I will recognize."

"Not guaranteed, when he could change his looks. Did we say your task was going to be easy?"

Dalden ignored the commentary to continue to make his point. "The rest of his people I would not know. But she would know. She knew immediately that I was not from her town. She already thinks I am part of her world, a foreigner, she called me."

"I was there, remember? I heard every word."

"Then you can agree that to have her help would be a benefit to us. "

"Of course I agree, but that doesn't mean it can be allowed. Other factors have to be taken into account, Dalden, the main one being that the longer you deal with one of those humans, the greater the risk of giving yourself away. The woman Brittany isn't even in a position of authority, yet she asks the same questions you will run into from everyone. Those are a curious, bold people. Butting into others' business is a natural process for them. And she will continue to grill you with questions until you end up slipping and telling her something that you shouldn't."

"With most of those questions already dealt with, the risk has been lessened."

Martha chuckled. "I just love it when warriors prove they aren't all brawn."

"Does this mean-"

"Not so fast, kiddo." Martha did the interrupting this time. I sent your sister out of here so I could speak plainly without embarrassing you. The woman Brittany does happen to be ideal for what you need, and You've passed with flying colors, making her think you're just someone from a different part of her world. I could wish you weren't attracted to her, so let me just stress: Jorran first, then rods, girl last on the agenda. If your reproductive instincts become a problem, get them out of the way. Too much trouble can be caused if that's all you're thinking about. So if it becomes a problem, take care of it, then get back to business. Can you do that?"

"Certainly."

"Why do I get the feeling that would have been your answer whether you believe it to be true or not? Never mind," was said with an accompanying sigh. "I know you wouldn't lie to me intentionally I know you think you can do what needs doing. I've come to expect an abundance of confidence from any of you warriors, no matter the endeavor, and you and your father have proven time and again that your own confidence is rarely off the mark."

"Is the woman still in that place you sent me to?" Dalden questioned.

"No, but I have already accessed all pertinent information on her and have the location that she calls home. I've also launched a miniature viewer above her town so I can have visuals as needed and not have to depend solely on the viewers on the combo-unit."

A grid appeared on the computer monitor that enlarged and then enlarged several more times until it became more clear that it was an overhead view of a small section of the planet that included dwellings, foliage, and objects moving along the grids that looked similar to the flying vehicles of Kystran but without the capability of flying. A large red circle appeared on one section of the grid, another was drawn some distance away, then three more smaller circles.

Martha's voice was all business now as she explained, "Brittany Callaghan lives here." The first circle flashed brighter in color. "The leader called Mayor lives here." The second circle flashed. "The largest bank depositors live here." The three circles flashed together. "All three are corporations rather than individuals. I will monitor their accounts for any unusual withdrawals, but I am not overly concerned yet that Jorran might go the money route. His mentality is deeply set in being a titled ruler, rather than a wealthy despot, so he will at least make the attempt to become the mayor here.

"Can he succeed?"

"Sure, if he uses the rods on every male in town and waits to get elected by them through the normal process, but he doesn't have time for that. He'll more likely try something stupid instead like having the mayor resign and appoint him as his replacement until the election. He'll be using those rods a lot to do it this way, and will have to have the support of the city council and every other man in a position of authority, as well as a full-blown history for himself to offer the public, because these people won't accept a stranger taking over, they will want to know all about him. But the rods will work to make people think they've known him forever and that he's a really great guy who'd make a perfect mayor for them."

Dalden frowned. "Then he can accomplish what he wants here. "

Martha spared a moment to offer one of her more smirking-type chuckles. "He could if it were only men in the equation, but the women, at least in the country he's picked, aren't of the silent, do-as-they're-told variety. Many of them hold positions of authority themselves. The rods worked fine on Sunder because it was a conspiracy of women that took over there, so they only had the men to worry about. Here, it's the women who are going to throw a wrench in Jorran's plans."

"This is true on the whole planet?"

"No, he's just picked the wrong country to try to take over. It's up to you to get your hands on him before he changes tactics and picks another country, or goes after riches instead. The last thing we want is for him to lose himself in one of their big cities. It's hard enough trying to pinpoint his location in the small town he's in. It'd be impossible in one of their major cities."

"The amount of people in that place today cannot be called small by any standards."

Another chuckle. "That was not a normal place, Dalden, it was a place the entire town goes to for shopping and other forms of entertainment, their version of a Sha-Ka-Ra market. You wouldn't find crowds like that in the rest of the town, though in a large city you just might. But the local news of the town had the mayor scheduled to be there today, which is why you were placed there."

"But was Jorran there?"

"Undetermined. The mayor was there, and we have to assume that Jorran will be following the mayor until he makes his move, which is why you will need to keep close to him as well. But keep in mind, you can't grab Jorran when you do find him and expect no one to interfere, and we do not want those people yelling for their security forces. You can't give him a chance to use a rod on you, either. You need to stun him, turn off his shield, then I can get you both back to the ship and we will have the leverage to have the rest of the rods turned over to us. But you need to get him alone before you go assaulting him with a stun."

"The stunning and the turning off of his shield can be accomplished in a matter of moments, as is Transfer. Why must such precaution be taken?"

"Because I don't take chances with one of Tedra's babies. You know that. And there are too many unknown variables involved on this planet, things I am unaware of yet because their computers aren't up to my speed and aren't giving me all their information fast enough. I shocked a good many people today by putting you down in the center of them. I shocked many more taking you back out of their midst, since the Brittany female wasn't the only woman down there who couldn't take her eyes off you, kiddo. A good many of them will now be visiting their eye doctors, which is okay, as long as we don't make a habit of shocking them. Had violence broken out in their midst, that whole crowd could have swarmed on you, and having you end up in what they call jail is not on the agenda."

"If I had my sword-"

"No, no, no, don't turn pure warrior on me, Dalden. I know what you're capable of, you know what you're capable of, but those people up there are not going to find that out for themselves. Swords are archaic here, used only by performers enacting their history. They are not worn in public without causing a great deal of curiosity. You have an excellent weapon in your phazor combo-unit: it covers all emergencies and gives me a six-sided view of the proceedings as well, and none of these humanoids will guess it is a weapon because they have nothing like it. It looks like what they call a portable radio, and Corth II even attached that wire to it so you can hear me without anyone near you hearing me."

"The woman could hear you."

"No, all she heard was noise, she didn't hear my words and wouldn't have understood them even if she did, which is beside the point. The communicator phazor unit has been made to look familiar to these people, so they won't question it. Now let's get back to the matter of the Brittany woman and using her to aid your task. The info I have gathered on her from all computer sources indicates that she has two places of employment that take up most of her time. You will need to tempt her away from these jobs to work for you. Just asking might do it, but let's not count on that. You will need to hire her."

"With what do I hire her? You can obtain their currency to do this?"

"Unnecessary," Martha replied. "Like the Catrateri, this is another planet that worships the metal gold, and that chunk you wear around your neck should be more than sufficient for the short-term employment you require. Now, are you ready to get back to business?"

"Indeed."

"Then hold on to your socks, kiddo, Transfer imminent."